• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, January 2, 2024

Just seven months into new ownership, Zulily is no more. Shutdowns and layoffs began in the fall, and the curtain fell last week, with the new owner chalking the decision up to “financial instability.”

That left many consumers with unfilled orders.

The Seattle-based company started in 2010 and went public with a splash in 2013. By 2015, Qurate, the parent of QVC, scooped it up for $2.4 billion.

In May of 2023, Qurate announced it was unloading Zulily to Regent, a Los Angeles-based investment firm specializing in retail. Qurate said Zulily had $80 million in debt.

Regent’s other brands include Club Monaco, DIM Paris, La Senza, Escada and DiamondBack.

At that time, Regent executives called Zulily “a trailblazer in using technology to create a compelling online customer experience,” with a “revolutionary logistics and fulfillment network that has also set a new industry standard,” in the transaction announcement.

By October, however, Zulily chief executive officer Terry Boyle had left the company. And in early December, Regent had warned Zulily employees that layoffs would begin after the new year.

That made the “lights out” decision on Dec. 22 more baffling.

An announcement on the Zulily site says the decision was made to “maximize value for the companies’ creditors,” citing financial instability. That note is signed by Douglas Wilson Companies, which Regent has tapped for the liquidation process.

It intends to fill some pending orders and cancel and refund others.

Daily deal sites appeal to many consumers who love discovering a time-sensitive bargain. But these companies have also been notoriously troubled, with the boom-and-bust backstories of companies like Woot and Groupon overshadowing the last 15 years of ecommerce.

Leaders in the category today include Amazon, LivingSocial, Groupon, RetailMeNot, Newegg, PatPat and Overstock.com.